After 11 years of marriage I made my own Sambar Powder yesterday. She was giving me Rasam Powder, Idli Molagapodi too but slowly I started making them on my own. But Sambar Powder was always prepped by her. Amma carefully sun dries all the ingredients, Appa takes it to flour mill and he will confirm, re confirm and paduthify the Anna in mill to ensure there was no garam masala or any strong aromatic ingredients like Saunf, Cinnamon were ground before this Sambar Podi batch 😀 When we were in Chennai we used to casually discuss என்ன அம்மா இரண்டு ticket பல்லவன் ல book பண்ணவா when my podi stash was about to over. Also when they visit they have this superstitious belief that they shouldn’t bring a spice powder alone. So Amma used to make either Coconut Burfee or Theratti pal, packs some 25 other items which I might not even have asked and will visit us. Though they used to send care packages every now and then even after we moved out of India this year I strictly warned them not to send anything to us fearing that they will have to visit different stores and buy things for us,I didn’t want to put their health at risk.
Whats in a Sambar Podi you might wonder but for me everytime when Amma makes it for me (though it is ground in flour mill, her proportions are perfect, i miss that color from namma ooru மஞ்சள்) and packs it this Podi reminds me her கைமணம் 💛 Ofcourse am grateful for everything amidst this pandemic but I do miss small joys in life.
This is the color of the Sambar Podi that she prepared it for me this Febraury.
Notes for making Home Made Sambar Podi :
- The color of the powder depends on the variety of Red Chillies you use. I used regular dried red chillies. I didn’t have Guntur Chillies or Kashmiri Red chillies at home.
- Amma always use 1:1 ratio for Dried Red Chillies and Coriander Seeds. You can use any measuring cup you want. This is the standard ratio she uses. You can at the max change the ratio to 1:1.5. That is for 1 cup of Red chillies you can add 1 and an extra half cup of Coriander seeds. Not more than that.
- There is no Curry Leaves, Mustard Seeds and Hing/Asafetida in this recipe. If you are used to adding curry leaves to your powder make sure you dry them well before grinding with other ingredients
- Since am grinding in mixie I didn’t use Virali Manjal/Turmeric Root. I directly added 2 tablespoon of Turmeric powder while grinding
- Use around approximately 1.5 tablespoon of this Sambar Powder to make Sambar for 3. Depending on the spice levels you can increase or decrease the quantity when you make the next time
- You don’t need oil to roast the ingredients. They all should be dry roasted only
- Through out the whole process make sure the hob is in medium heat. Be it Gas or Induction control the temperature accordingly. We don’t want to burn Dal or the chillies
- The following yielded me approximately 250gms of Sambar Powder
- Always use a dry spoon to take the powder from the storage box
You can check the short reel/video of Sambar Podi making that I added in Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CH-BG7elWhe/?igshid=12t7102uo2s6u
| Prep Time | 30 minutes |
| Servings |
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- 1 cup Dried Red Chillies Remove the stalk
- 1 cup Coriander Seeds
- 1/3 cup toor dal
- 1/3 cup Channa Dal
- 1 tablespoon Fenugreek Seeds
- 2 tablespoon Black Peppercorn
- 2 tablespoon Jeera Seeds
- 2 tablespoon Turmeric Powder
Ingredients
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- Dry roast Dried Red Chillies first. You will hear a crunchy sound when it is done. Also the color of the chillies will be mildly changed and so does the texture. It will look shrinked
- Then in the same pan roast coriander seeds for 3-4 minutes approximately
- Roast Toor Dal and Channa Dal together. Make sure the Dals turn golden brown. Only then it will grind properly in mixie
- Then start roasting Jeera and Black pepper together. Once you roast them for approx 3 minutes add Fenugreek seeds.Fenugreek seeds tend to brown quickly.
- Remove Jeera, Black Pepper and Fenugreek seeds from the pan
- Now transfer all the ingredients to a dry mixie jar. Add 2 tablespoon Turmeric Powder and grind them to a fine powder
- Use a sieve remove any coarse particles and again grind the powder for 2-3 minutes
- Repeat the process 3 times until we get smooth Sambar Powder
- This is how the final texture of the homemade Sambar Podi
- I made Sambar today with this powder. Used around 1.5 tablespoon of this powder. It turned out delicious
